Scott Huddleston: Iraq duty cements father-son bond

An awful lot of our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are young fathers with small children at home.

But because of the sheer scale of military operations, there are some father-son teams serving in Iraq, typically many miles apart from each other.

(Courtesy James E. Chambers)

San Antonio can lay claim to one of those tandems, a couple of soldiers working in medical units in Iraq. Although they work in different regions, 1st Sgt. James E. Chambers and his son, Sgt. James E. Chambers II, both started a 15-month tour in November, and are set to return to San Antonio together for a short furlough in October.

The elder Chambers participated in a July 6 pinning ceremony as his son, 24, was promoted from corporal to sergeant at an operating base about 200 miles north of Balad. His son, a 2002 graduate of Reagan High School in San Antonio, is a radiology specialist.

“On paper, I’ve been a sergeant since the beginning of the month, but we have been waiting to do the whole pinning ceremony,” with the reading of the order, the oath and presentation of the certificate, the younger Chambers said in a release.

He and his dad had lunch after the ceremony and spent the day together, “catching up on things we’ve missed.”

There have been similar instances in Iraq where a father pinned a son at a promotion ceremony. In 2006, the Army Times reported on Staff Sgt. Robert M. Borrego, who traveled to Baghdad to pin his son, Raymond M. Borrego, when he was elevated to sergeant.

“We do hope to someday be stationed closer together, but we and our wives know that we will be where we are needed most,” the elder Borrego wrote in an e-mail that was submitted to the Times.

As for the Chambers duo, they’re at least closer geographically than they would be stateside. 1st Sgt. Chambers is stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash., and his son is based at Fort Hood.

But mentally and emotionally, sharing the responsibility of providing medical care in the war zone, they may be closer than ever at this point in their lives. After providing air defense artillery support during his first tour of Iraq a few years ago, James II re-enlisted for another tour and has risen in rank, his father said.